Green Cleaning

I started my adventures of cleaning with as close to natural cleaning products as I can use when my son was born. My favorite website that got me started was this: http://www.care2.com/ . You can find their non-toxic recipes here. After about a year of tweaking a recipe to fit me and what I like I came up with this one.

All Purpose Cleaner

4 teaspoons Borax
1/2 teaspoon liquid soap
Tea Tree Oil (disinfectant)
1 32 oz. spray bottle
Funnel if you have one.

Add first two ingredients to spray bottle using funnel if handy. Fill spray bottle with warm water up to the neck of the bottle. Add tea tree oil. I am cheap and buy mine from Walmart for like $5.00 so I use a capful. With a dropper bottle, I would say use around 20 drops.

Things I have used this spray on:
Floors
Carpet (actually does work for stains)
Sinks
Bathroom walls
Toilet seats
Walls
Door Handles
Stains on Clothing
Fridge
Inside of Van
Glass table top

*Notes:
Hubby doesn't really like the smell of vinegar and to avoid discouraging my all-purpose husband from helping me clean I leave it out. For more cleaning and disinfectant power, use 1/4 - 1/2 cup of vinegar.
*More Notes
I mix it up sometimes and use lavender oil because that also kills the germies. Peppermint does the same thing but if you mix it with vinegar your dh might not clean with it because it smells like pickles. (at least mine won't) If I have a headache and don't want to smell anything, I always turn to my ever reliable GSE also known as Grapefruit Seed Extract .

Baking Soda uses in my house:

Add a cup to smelly laundry.
Sprinkle overnight in toilet and scrub in morning.
Glass stovetop cleaner
Bathtub cleaner (this is by far better than ajax)
Pot cleaner

The list goes on. To use, just sprinkle with baking soda and srub with a wet rag/sponge. Rinse and enjoy the sparkle. For extra cleaning power, squirt some liquid soap on top and scrub.
I just buy a big bag from Costco that lasts months around here.


Vinegar uses in my home:

The obvious...coffee pot.
Keep in a squirt bottle for a disinfectant for anything in the kitchen
Veggie and Fruit cleaner (fill sink with water and squirt a bit in it to clean the produce)
Fabric Softener (use in place of liquid fabric softener and you will be pleased with the softness)

The list goes on.

Borax

Mold killer (don't even ask me how I know this)
Toilet Bowl cleaner
Laundry booster
Sink Cleaner

The list goes on.

I will add my window recipe once I find it. Just use water, rubbing alcohol, and vinegar but will report proportions another time. If you are impatient or I fall behind, just jot me an email to remind me or leave a comment.



If you write the all purpose recipe on the bottle, you will be able to refill fast. I didn't
do this with my window recipe, hence the need to find the recipe in my recipe binder.
To top it all off, I use cloth cleaning rags so I can wash in hot water and reuse. I only buy papertowels to clean up dog messes. : )

Hope this helps someone else. I love it because my 5 and 7 year old can help me out cleaning. I would have hated to worry when they were crawling around about what they were crawling on. Plus, no more headaches when it comes time to clean! Another advantage is you save a ton of money!

Cost of products for me:

1 gallon vinegar..........$2.30
1 box of Borax............$3.50
1 big bag of Baking Soda....$8.00 (estimate)

The vinegar lasts us about a month here because I use it for fabric softener. The borax lasts a few months. Baking soda lasts several months. I do buy a bottle of Windex because that is what hubby likes to use on my van windows. If he's gonna clean 'em, I'm gonna get what the man needs. That will last us ~forever~. Oh and a little confession....we use Scrubbing Bubbles on the shower walls because it works so well. I really need to find a good natural and fast cleaner for the walls because I hate scrubbing. I am open to questions, comments, and suggestions so shoot away.